Love Of Chess
by gatehead81
Summary: Carter is taking care of Cassie while Janet pulls a double shift. The young girl, who is still adjusting to her new life, asks her a simple question that sparks of a recantation of one of Sam's most precious memories. Sam/Cassie.Friendship/Family.Season1.


**AN: I really don't know where this one came from but I started it yesterday about six pm and finished at six am with my eyes no longer staying open. I was simply reviewing another of my old fics and heard Cassie ask the question.**

**I suppose I've always wondered about Sam's love of chess. I've always wondered about her mother's side of the family too… **

**I chose the location Sunshine Drive, Diamond Springs CA from google maps, so if it's not right, blame google!**

**My usual disclaimer applies as per my profile page and this time I suppose the sentiment extends to 'Rupert and the Frog Song' It belongs too…well Rupert I suppose! The animation was my brother's favourite as a kid and he used to watch it every night before he went to sleep, that's the inspiration behind that bit.**

**Anyway, enjoy the fic and as always feedback welcome :)**

**SUMMARY: Carter is taking care of Cassie while Janet pulls a double shift. The young girl, who is still adjusting to her new life, asks her a simple question that sparks of a recantation of one of Sam's most precious memories. **

**Season 1 not long after 'Singularity' Sam/Cassie Friendship and maybe a bit of poignant angst.**

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* * *

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LOVE OF CHESS.

* * *

Janet was pulling a double shift over the weekend so Sam offered to stay over and watch Cassie. It meant the doctor could stay on the base, thing were hectic in the infirmary. Almost every bed was filled and the patient list included one Colonel O'Neill who had decided at the last moment to pull a curious Doctor Jackson away from a glowing alien object.

The electricity arced through the air, passed straight through Daniel and shocked the Colonel. Lucky for all involved that they were right by the 'gate and Teal'c carried the half toasted man straight home where Janet Frasier shocked him back into existence.

It had been a close call and Daniel was going to be punishing himself for a while.

Sam had hung around with Teal'c for a day or so but when it transpired that her CO was going to be just fine and Janet had mentioned her heavy workload and double-shift she had offered to take care of the Munchkin.

Besides, the Colonel had just entered his pain-in-the-butt-continual-gripe stage. When would he learn that attitude was only going to get him more bed time.

Sam had cottoned on to that the second time she had landed in one of Janet's beds. Her grump had cost her almost an extra half day stuck in bed.

Janet seemed to pride herself on her ability to keep difficult patients under her care for longer, she did not really mean any harm by it. It was a case of her infirmary, her rules. Complaining only prolonged the agony, it was all water off a duck's back to her and no soldier worth his or her salt wanted to stay longer than necessary under the watchful eye of the tiny doctor, she was just too vigilant. So most were learning to shut up, take their medicine and get out quick. It was a very effective strategy, but Jack O'Neill? He would probably be stuck in that bed for years if Janet had her way.

There was also the fact that the Colonel's heartbeat was still occasionally erratic. He would be confined to that bed for a few days more at least, good behaviour or no.

* * *

So Sam was relieved to find herself enjoying Cassie's company. The little girl was still adjusting, still having nightmares and still asking almost continually to see Sam. Their bond was as close as it had been the moment she returned to her side in the bunker. She had broken every rule in the book to protect the child and she would do it all again in a heartbeat.

When she was Earth-side Sam still called every night before the girl's bedtime, but it had been almost two weeks since she had actually seen her face to face. It was all part of the separation programme MacKenzie had designed to help the kid settle in to her new life. Cassie needed to shift her key dependency to her new primary carer. Janet was her mother now and the sooner Cassie learned to look to her first the better it would be for all of them. Sam understood it all logically but the reality of it still hurt.

She had wanted to take care of the kid. She had even, without telling anyone, enquired into what it would take to adopt her, but in the end she had decided that it just was not going to be possible. The Airforce would never have allowed it. The fact that she traipsed all over the galaxy meant that there was no way that she would be in the position to adopt a traumatised alien child. Cassie needed a stable environment and she just could not provide one for her.

It had been an immense relief to learn that Janet was to be the one to take her on. Sam could think of no better person in the world to love and care for the sweet little child. It also meant that she could continue to bond with her.

"Sam, why do you like chess so much?"

The woman glanced up and into the little girl's eyes, instantly distracted from her thoughts. Why she loved chess was something she had not really thought about, not in a long time. Cassie cocked her head waiting for an answer.

"Well Sweetie, that's kind of a long story."

"I like stories."

Sam smiled at the innocent kid. "I'll tell you what, if you beat me this time I will tell you, and I'll even let you go first."

Cassie's eyes went wide. "No Sam, that's not fair." She pouted.

Carter, assuming her upset was about her not wining as often as she would like, was about to explain that you could not win all the time, when the eleven year old piped up again.

"I went first last game, it's your turn now."

Carter ruffled her young friend's hair. "That's right, fair's fair, you want to win own your own merit don't you?"

The girl nodded emphatically and swung her feet as she sat on the chair. "Turn about is fair play, is what Janet…I mean my Mom always says."

"And you're _mother_ is correct. I'll go first then."

Sam made a show of pondering her first move and shifted the black knight from its place in the back row. Looking up she waited for Cassie's reaction, it was the first time she had opened with that move when playing the girl.

Cassie stilled for a moment, then she looked up and narrowed her eyes at Sam. "You know that's not a very smart opening move. I hope you're not trying to let me win." She then moved her own white pawn out across the board.

"Let you win! Cassie, why would I ever do that?" Sam lifted her brows in surprise. The young alien's intuition had surprised her, she would have to be careful with her losing strategy this time round. "I would never _let_ you win, you know what I'm like about people beating me. Not that that is the right way to behave." She added belatedly after forgetting that she was talking to a kid.

"Is that why you never play poker?"

"Who says I never play poker?"

"Jack."

"When were you talking to Ja- Colonel O'Neill about playing cards?"

"Last weekend up at the cabin, he taught me how to play and it was fun."

Sam tried to hide her frown, neither the Colonel nor Janet had mentioned the fact that Cassie had been with him when he was on leave last week. Sam had been tasked off-world with SG-6 so had not been able to call her as per usual.

The game progressed slowly, Carter becoming more distracted by what had happened to the Colonel on their last mission as she played.

"It's your move Sam." Cassie informed her after a few minutes.

"What? Oh, right, sorry." Absently she shifted another piece on the board.

"Sa-am!" The young girl wailed. "You're not concentrating." She held the older woman's gaze for a moment before using her bishop to take her pawn.

"Oh really? Remember that knight I moved earlier? Watch…" Mercilessly Sam moved her small black horse across the board and wiped out the eleven year olds bishop." She grinned at the girl but her smile soon fell as Cassie grinned back.

"Like I told you Sam...not concentrating."

Sam's eyes tore across the board and she gasped. Unbelieving she watched as tiny fingers shifted a rook almost the full length of the chequered squares. It almost physically hurt as her competitor, her protégé, obliterated her queen. She even dramatically pushed it off the board to hammer the mistake home. The game was not quite over just yet but Sam was circling the drain.

"Wow Cassie! Have you been practicing?"

"Nope." The girl shook her head, her long hair flying out either side. She brought her shoulders up in that shy manner that makes all kids super-adorable. "I've been studying." She stated proudly.

"Oh?" Sam was impressed.

The girl skittered from the table and shot across the kitchen, heading for her bedroom. Sam blinked after her then shrugged, she would be back. Cassie's attention span was about the same as any kid her age and this was their second game. Sam bit her lip and intently stared at the pattern of the pieces before her. She shook her head as she worked out the moves and the probabilities, she was toast.

Cassie landed a book on the table with such a thump that Sam jumped and some of the pieces became dislodged from the board.

"Oops!" she mumbled, ducking her head. It was clear she thought she had done something wrong.

"Hey don't worry about it, we can put them back, see." The girl smiled.

"I did that this morning and spilled my juice, Mom was cross, said I needed to learn to be more careful." Shyly she twisted her fingers through her hair.

Sam reached out and pulled her close. "Well your Mom's not here right now. So you want to tell me about this book?" She lifted the heavy guide a little closer as the girl climbed onto her knee.

"It's my new chess guide. I've been reading it every night."

Carter flicked through the pages. "And you can understand it?"

"No, not really. Not the words anyhow." The girl confessed glumly, she was still learning to read English. "But the pictures are easy to understand. See…here, this is the move I did earlier. That's how I knew you would take my bishop."

"Cassandra Frasier, you are incredible!" She kissed the girl on the forehead. "So where did you get it?"

"It's a secret." She whispered conspiratorially.

Sam mimicked her tone. "Oh really? Well you can tell me."

"Nope." Cassie stated and jumped off her knee, it was important never to break a secret.

"Now can we finish this game or are you gonna try to distract me all night?" Her hand landed on her hip and she frowned deeply.

Carter burst out laughing. There was only one person who could have taught her an attitude like that. She could almost hear the Colonel's voice as the little girl continued.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing, come on let's finish up."

Sam tried her absolute best for the last of the game but Cassie beat her fair and square. The Munchkin had only been playing for a few months but it was obvious Carter actually had a real competitor on her hands. The feeling was incredible. Sam had unwittingly taught this shy little girl something that she was really going to excel at.

She watched her as she carefully put all the pieces away in their correct places. It was only a cheap wooden set but the care she was taking was almost breathtaking.

Cassie took the game back to her bedroom, she was not careful with everything that she owned, in fact she kept breaking stuff without meaning too all the time but Sam's chess set was different. It was the first gift she had ever been given on this planet and it would always mean a lot to her.

"Cassie hun, when you're in there can you get changed for bed, it's getting late."

"Sure thing, Sam!" she called back.

* * *

Cassie was changed and had collected up her hairbrush, she really hoped Sam would brush her hair for her. No-one could brush hair like Sam, she was _so_ good at it. It always made her feel safe and loved, her Mom tried but she never quite got it right.

Her special box caught her eye as it stuck out from under the bed. No matter what happened or where she ended up it would always be with her, just like Sam's chess set.

She opened it and looked inside. The tag she took back through the 'gate and the necklace her mother…her real mother had made for her looked back out at her. She missed her mother, she missed her father, she missed all of her people.

Now she was just a girl from Toronto who's parents had died. None of her new school friends could ever know the truth. She understood why and would never tell but sometimes she just wanted to tell someone about her real Mom and Dad. She sighed and closed the lid on the box. She could always talk to Sam. Sam always understood and made her feel better.

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Hey Cass, you wanna get that?" Sam called through from the lounge.

"Really!" The girl sang as she slipped the box under her bed again. Her Mom, Janet, never allowed her to answer the door, she said it could be anybody and as she was too short to see through the peep-hole it was not safe. She tore through the house skidding to a halt at the front door.

Sam watched as Cassie looked over to make sure she was actually allowed. "Go ahead." She mouthed, smiling. Cassie straightened herself up and took a deep breath. Sam could see her grinning at whoever was on the other side and her mouth was working. Then she nodded and then came running towards Sam.

"It's the pizza guy! You never told me we were going to have pizza!"

"Well are you going to pay him or what?"

Her happy face dropped. "But I don't have any money."

"Here." Sam laughed and handed over her wallet. "There's money in the front section." She called out as Cassie immediately disappeared.

It was not long until she reappeared carrying the box, Sam's wallet balanced on top. "I told him to keep the change." The girl sang.

Sam swallowed a gulp of her soda and took back her wallet. She opened it and groaned. "Ca-assie, that was a fifty!"

The child's gleeful face fell. "Why, was that not enough. He said it was grr-eaa-ttt!"

"I'll bet he did." Sam grumbled. "Its fine Sweetie, just remind me to explain to you about money some of these days."

" 'kay." she replied peeping into the box. "Oh wow pepperoni, my favourite! How did you know?"

"Oh let's just say a little bird told me."

Cassie sucked in a breath, her eyes wide. "Really!" Sam watched her thinking. "Was it the one that always sits outside my window in the mornings and sings? Mom says in the springtime there might even be baby birds in the nest and I can watch them."

She took the box from Cassie and headed for the kitchen. "Paper plates on the couch?" She asked.

"Oh yes please, Sam! And can we watch a video?"

"Sure thing Sweetie, what do you want to watch?"

"This one!" The youngster declared almost bumping into Sam as she came back through the door.

Sam held back her groan. 'Rupert and the Frog Song' was not what she was hoping for. The fact was the last time they had watched this particular video she had ended up humming the song for over a week.

Even Teal'c was 'baump, baump, baumping' by the end of the week.

It was not until after a conversation with Janet about the tattered tape that Sam had figured out why Jack had gotten so short tempered about their singing. It had once belonged to Charlie. In fact it had been the boy's favourite cartoon. It seemed every night he watched it and Jack watched it with him.

The image of Jack O'Neill tucked up on the couch with his small son tugged at Sam's heartstrings. It was something she would have given anything to see. It was something she wished she could give back to him.

"What's wrong Sam?"

"Hmm?" Sam looked down, Cassie was standing completely rigid in front of her the weight of the world on her shoulders. She placed a hand on the girl's face. "There's nothing wrong sweetie, don't look so worried. Here take these, I'll go get us some juice."

"I'm not allowed juice, it's past seven o'clock."

"I won't tell if you don't."

She carried the pitcher and two plastic glasses through and flopped down on the couch. A little warm body instantly wrapped itself around her waist.

For a while they ate in silence, the cover of the video occasionally catching Sam's eye.

When they were done Cassie, without being asked, cleared the plates and put the pizza box on the recycle pile. Her teacher had told the environment was important and she was sure going to do her bit. No way she was going to help destroy this planet, especially as she had lost her own.

oOo

Sam was not there any more when she came back through, instantly she felt panic rising up inside her. She hated it when people were just gone from where she thought they were. She tried to settle herself down. Sam was probably just in the bathroom, she would be brave and wait and see.

Doctor MacKenzie's friend, Doctor Matheson, had told her it was important that she learned to trust in the fact that the people who loved her were not going to just disappear on her.

Doctor Matheson was nice, she had big friendly green eyes and spoke with a funny accent. She said she was from Australia and that was all the way over on the other side of the planet, she had shown her on a map. She also allowed her to call her Doctor Jane, not very many people were allowed to call her by her first name.

Cassie closed her eyes. "One…two…three…" she counted out loud. Doctor Jane had told her to count slowly up to twenty, two times if she felt afraid or alone. She knew now that meant up to forty but at the time she could count higher than twenty, she was still learning her numbers. Doctor Jane said that most of the time if a friend was out of the room unexpectedly that they would be back by the time she was done. If they were not and she was still scared, it was okay to go look for them.

Sam listened from the hallway. She had stopped in her tracks, Cassie hairbrush in her hand, when she heard the little girl counting. She had not intended to leave her alone but Cassie had finished up in the kitchen sooner than she had expected. Swallowing back a lump in her throat she admired the child's courage.

The last time she had seen her, not two weeks ago, she would have come to find her, or simply have started screaming. Now she was standing her ground and vigorously fighting her own demons. She was a shining example of what anyone could overcome if they tried hard enough. Sam stored it away, no doubt someday she would need the memory of Cassandra Frasier's strength.

Cassie's pitch was creeping higher as she approached thirty, Sam realised she was still just standing there. Without further delay she hurried back into the room.

"Sam!" Cassie called and ran to her. Carter scooped her up into her arms to receive the impending hug. "I waited! I waited and I counted." she beamed.

"I know, I heard you when I was coming down the hall. You know I am so _proud _of you, you are so clever and brave!" She kissed the girl's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too Sam, that's how I knew you were going to come back. Because you love me and you would never leave me." She furiously buried her face into Carter's neck.

Sam closed her eyes and pulled the girl close. She really hoped she could keep the promise she made to her, but the fact was any given day her line of work could get her killed. That had never really bothered her when it had just been herself, but now? She just could not bear the thought of hurting Cassandra anymore than she already had been.

Her words caught a little as she spoke. "Hey Cass?" She cleared her throat. "You wanted to watch Rupert. Shall we put it on?" She carried her towards the couch.

"No." Cassie stated.

"No?" Sam pulled back to look at her.

"You promised you would tell me."

"Tell you what?" Sam was confused.

There was a typical eleven year old eye roll. "About why you like chess so much."

"Oh-h, okay, that. Um sure, let's just get settled on the couch first huh."

Carter made herself as comfortable as she could with a sturdy eleven year old on her knee. She also covered them over so they both would stay warm. Cassie sighed contently as Sam began to brush her long golden hair.

Sam pulled a slight face and tried to figure out where she should begin her story.

* * *

Eventually Sam blew out a breath and shrugged, she tried to settle on the soft tone of voice her own mother had used for storytelling. She was surprised to find it came naturally. "When I was a little girl, just a little younger than you actually…"

"How old were you?"

"About seven I suppose."

"Seven? I'm nearly eleven and a half of your years, that's a lot older than seven!"

"Okay fine, when I was _a lot_ younger than you then...and Cassie what have you been told about saying thing's like that?"

"I know, I know, I can't say thing's like 'your years' 'cause I'm from Canada now and years are the same length in the USA and in Cananda."

Sam laughed. "Years are the same length all over the planet Cass."

"Even in Australia?"

"Yes even in Australia."

"Oh...okay. So when you were a little girl _a whole lot_ younger than me..."

Sam laughed again. "When I was a little girl, my mother took me to..."

"Your mother that died, like mine, when you were young, like me."

Sam's breathe stuck in her throat. Sometimes children could be very blunt. She forced through the unexpected pain of her memories. "Yeah Cass, exactly like you." she whispered. "So anyway, we went to visit my grandfather Vinzent in California. My brother Mark came too, Dad was away on a mission, we never really got to see him much."

"That must have been sad."

"Yeah I guess it was, but will you stop interrupting."

"Sorry Sam."

She kissed the girls head again. She had not meant to be so abrupt, it just seemed this was going to be harder than she had first thought. "It's okay, I just like to tell a whole story at once that's all, you can ask questions after if you like." The girl nodded against her chest.

"So we arrived at Grandpa Vin's place. At the time he was living in Diamond Springs, that's just east of Sacramento. We were still living in LA so it wasn't that far away really. He owned a house right at the end of Sunshine Drive.

Mark and I always thought it was the best name for a street in the world. It had a big open space out the back that seemed to run for miles in every direction. We weren't really supposed to, but like all the other kids we played out there until the sun set every day. Mark had more friends than I did in Diamond but that was only because he got to go up there every year to help out Grandpa with his summer projects. I was still too little."

Carter paused to smile at the memories. "Grandpa was a carpenter, you know what a carpenter is?"

"Yeah we learned about that in school. A carpenter is someone who makes things out of wood. Sometimes it can be practical things like windows and doors other times they can be pretty like the statues in our recess area. They are really old and took a long time to make. That's why Miss Clement was cross when someone put graffiti on them. Graffiti is bad."

"That's right Cassie it is. So anyway Grandpa was a carpenter, so was his father and his grandfather before that, who learned all about before he moved from Denmark when he was a young man. That's why Mark is one too, Mum didn't have any brothers so Mark decided he would keep up the family tradition. Even at the age of ten he knew that was what he wanted to do. Grandpa was delighted, they had always been very close.

So there is this one day, when Mark and Grandpa are working in the shed at something and my Mom's gone into town to do some grocery shopping…"

"Where was your Grandma?"

"Oh she was already dead Sweetie, she died when Mark was still a baby, I never knew her."

"Oh." Cassie whispered fighting a yawn. Sam set the brush down, ran her fingers through the girl's long hair and continued.

"So there's just me in the house and I notice that the door is open to Grandpa's bedroom. Kids were not allowed in there, it was his one and only golden rule. I knew I really shouldn't, but everybody was outside and besides who would ever know."

"You didn't!" Cassie looked appalled and swatted Sam's arm.

"I did, but remember I was only young and didn't really know what I was doing wrong, not older and wiser like you. You would know better than to do something like that." The girl nodded her head.

"So the door creaked open and I stepped inside. It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be and smelled funny. The curtains were still closed and it was actually kind of creepy. Grandpa's books caught my eye so I went over to investigate. I had already finished the two that I had brought with me. After a while I realised there was no point at looking at them anymore because none of them had words I could understand or any pictures, apart from the boring woodworking ones. Then something made a noise outside the window and I jumped, dropping one of the books."

Sam paused as Cassie giggled.

"So I picked the book back up and set it back on the shelf. The dust was making me sneeze so I decided I had better leave before I got found out. Then something caught my eye. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

"What was it?"

Cassie was looking up, her eyes full of wonder. Sam could not help but bite her lip. It was the most indescribable feeling to have this little girl hanging on her every word, especially as it was a story so close to her own heart.

"Can't you guess?" She asked her smaller counterpart.

Cassandra puzzled for a moment and then bounced on her knee. "Oh, oh it was a chess set!"

"That's right." She pressed a finger to the girl's nose. "But not just any chess set. It was the most amazing chess set I have ever seen in my entire life!"

"Even now?"

"Even now!"

"Woaaaoow! What did it look like?"

"Well the board was set into its own table, just a little lower than the kitchen table we play on and it was a round table. The outer rim was made of very fine oak and the black squares and pieces were made out of the blackest, hardest wood I had ever seen. Grandpa told me later it was called bog-oak and his father had ordered it specially from Ireland. The table had its own drawers and each piece fitted perfectly into its very own specially measured slot. The legs were long and ornate, finished with the same design as the pieces.

The game was all set up and half played and I couldn't help but lift one of the wooden pieces up. It was the most beautiful rook I had ever seen, not that I know what it was called back then. It was about twice the size of the normal ones that we use and was impeccably carved. The tower had a door and windows and even an emblem with a bird's head, a raven, carved on it.

Then I noticed that the whole thing was covered in dust. I wondered why grandpa never used it anymore, but I couldn't very well ask him as I wasn't supposed to know it existed. It was then that I remembered where I was and decided to leave.

I carefully set the rook back, re-completing the circle of dust but as I turned around, there was Grandpa, right there behind me."

"Eek!" yelped Cassie and buried her face.

"He had sneaked into the room while I was admiring the wooden rook. I hadn't even heard him. Well I thought for sure I was going to be in big trouble. Grandpa wasn't shy about giving you a whuppin' if you done something wrong."

Suddenly Cassie had tears in her eyes. "He didn't hurt you did he?" The thought was just too much for her to bear.

"No Cassie he didn't." Sam smiles at the eleven year old's empathy and pulled her close again.

"He gave a sort of crooked smile. 'So _you like the chess set do you, Samantha?_' He always called me Samantha, said Sam was a boys name and I was his perfect sugarplum angel and deserved my proper name."

"I bet you were like an angel Sam, big blue eyes and curly blonde hair."

"How did you know my hair was curly?"

"Dunno, just makes sense I guess."

Sam smiled, a little puzzled by the child's logic. "So anyway instead of being angry, he asks me if I've ever played chess before. Naturally as I'm only seven I say no. He asks me if I'd like to learn. Well at that moment in time there is nothing more in the world I would like to do so I tell him yes and he smiles the biggest, brightest smile I've ever seen on his face. He was always such a sad man as I remember, but not that day. And not any time we played after that."

Carter drifted off for a moment, lost in the memory. It wasn't until Cassie yawned again that she remembered she was supposed to be talking out loud. "So Grandpa opens the curtains and when the light shines on the table I thought I was actually going to cry it was so beautiful. But grandpa was a tough old man and I knew if I cried he'd never teach me anything so I just sighed instead. It caused dust to rise up in and into the pillar of light making the whole thing look more magical than ever.

'_Grandpa Vin?' _I asked. '_How come this game is not finished?'_

He looked sad for a moment then he smiled again. '_Well Sugarplum you're Grandma and I used to play every night before bed. Right from the very day we were married. She was good, you're Grandma was, almost as good as me and sometimes we would have to wait till the next night to finish our game. You're Grandma and I never got to finish this one, she died before she got the chance...'_ "

I remembered feeling very sad. Grandma died when Kark was a baby so that meant that Grandpa had left that game unfinished for ten long years, that was longer than I had even been alive."

"Oh that's so sad Sam." Cassie had tears in her eyes as she hugged her closest friend.

"Yeah but it was okay because he told me that Grandma would want me to learn to play and that I should do so and be happy because even though my Grandma never even got to know that I existed, she talked about teaching her granddaughters how to play chess and how to be the best, just like she'd taught her own daughter."

"You're mother?"

"That's right. My mother. So Grandpa and I played our very first game of chess together right there in that room with the dust of Grandma's last ever game still on the table." Sam wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "It's something I will never forget and something I'll always be proud to have learned from my Grandfather…

And that, Cassandra Frasier, is why I love chess so much."

Silence fell between them as they both digested the story, after just a moment Cassie spoke quietly. "That was an amazing story Sam, and it's all true?"

"It's all true Sweetie."

Cassie stretched up and kissed Sam on the cheek. Somewhere during the story Sam had carried her off to bed and she was now all tucked in and warm.

"And you know why I'll always love chess Sam?"

"Why's that Cass?."

The newest member of the Frasier household grinned. "Because you taught it to me."

Sam was so wholly touched by the statement that a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Don't cry Sam." Cassie reached up and wiped the tear away.

"Don't worry honey, they're happy tears. You've just made me the happiest woman in the whole world."

They hugged again.

"Now go to sleep Cassandra Frasier, it is well past your bedtime."

Sam tucked the girl in and kissed her goodnight. She headed for the door.

"Sam?"

"Yeah Cassie?"

"Is it okay if I call you Auntie Sam?"

"Oh Cassie I would love that!" She was sure her heart was going to burst with pure joy.

"Well goodnight then, Auntie Sam."

"Goodnight Munchkin."

She turned on the girl's nightlight and pulled the door till it was almost but not quite closed.

* * *

Sam found herself wandering around the kitchen. She was still feeling a little tearful but she had never felt so content. God bless that little angel she thought to herself, she really was the sweetest child.

Her thoughts turned back to the chess set that had been made by her great-grandfather that now sat in her own bedroom under the window. She always kept one curtain closed to stop it from perishing in the sun. Her grandfather had left it to her after he had died just three weeks later than his own daughter.

Sam had never played with it in her own home but maybe it was time to start.

She sighed and made her way over to where Cassie's new guide book was sitting.

She opened the front cover and read at the inscription.

**_To my beloved Cassie,_**

**_take this book and learn all you can from it, _**

**_then use it to beat Carter!_**

**_Lot's of love _**

**_Uncle Jack. XX_**

Sam tipped her head back and laughed, little did the Colonel know that the young lass had taken him at his word and done just that.

**

* * *

**

By way of epilogue: When Carter got back to the base, the first thing she did was change her will. If anything should ever happen to her, it would be Cassie who would get her grandfather's precious gift.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed Sam's little trip down memory lane as much as I did :) Oh and 'Grandpa Vinzent'? I decided given Cater's fair hair and eye colour that it might be appropraite that she have Northern-European roots so Grandpa Vin is of Danish decent, it might also account for her height.**


End file.
